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Cash is King – Art is Queen

Financing for the Kunsthaus comes partly from income we generate ourselves through ticket sales for exhibitions, guided tours and visits to the Collection, income the museum shop as well as membership of the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft. But the Kunsthaus also receives public money (from the city and canton), gifts from foundations, as well as donations from companies and private donors and patrons.

Active sponsoring has been a feature of life at the Kunsthaus Zurich since the nineties, but has intensified since 2002: companies are now actively canvassed and managed personally by a dedicated contact. Sponsoring, a sub-category of fundraising is, unlike both fundraising and patronage, not a one-way street when it comes to communication. Sponsoring always involves a form of exchange, “image for money”, in contrast to more discreet donations which are often made out of “love for art”. Sponsoring is a marketing tool by which the sponsor aims to achieve its strategic corporate objectives.

In times when funds are ever more difficult to come by in the cultural sector, sponsoring is assuming an ever greater role as a means of obtaining finance. Crucial to successful sponsoring is the exhibition programme: an exhibition that successfully attracts the public guarantees that the sponsor will be able to meet its own communicative goals.

Alongside exhibitions which reach a broad cross-section of the public, such as the Turner exhibition, the Kunsthaus also stages smaller, more scholastic exhibitions for a specialized audience or events tailored to a specific target group, such as the Kunsthaus nights and the long night of the museums for trendy night owls looking for entertainment. It also organizes events in the area of art education for children, young people and adults.

The Kunsthaus offers sponsors individual, tailor-made projects. Successful sponsoring requires precise research: who is the client, what exactly are its goals and target audience? Only once this has been established can we make an offer from the broad range of options for supporting the Kunsthaus in the area of projects or infrastructure. We place great value on long-term sponsoring relationships and partnerships that stand out precisely because they have stood the test of time. The nature and scope of the project determines the degree of exclusivity for the sponsoring. As an alternative to the exclusive support provided by one individual sponsor, co-sponsoring with one or two partners is also a possibility. The benefits provided by the museum differ according to the scope of the sponsoring commitment. The Kunsthaus offers the sponsor an ideal communication platform: exclusive events tailored to the needs of a specific target group in the museum or Villa Tobler, together with a package of advertising and PR activities. Successful sponsoring increases the attractiveness of the museum for the public and thereby also the chances of receiving public funds, as additional money is available to achieve a higher profile on the national and international stage; and this enables the Kunsthaus to make a major contribution to the promotion of Zurich as an attractive business location.

Sponsorship does not give benefactors any influence over the content of the exhibition project, but instead offers the chance to determine the goals, target groups and communication measures in partnership with the Kunsthaus. Therefore: Cash is King, Art is Queen – welcome to the “Club of Royals”!